Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Short Interest Update

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,420,000 shares, a decline of 6.8% from the January 15th total of 4,740,000 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new position in Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 69.8% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 253 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Cardinal Health during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

CAH stock opened at $126.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.52 billion, a PE ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.63. Cardinal Health has a 12 month low of $93.17 and a 12 month high of $132.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $123.06 and its 200 day moving average is $116.74.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.19. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.59% and a negative return on equity of 59.57%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.5056 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $140.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen raised shares of Cardinal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $130.00 to $144.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Cardinal Health from $136.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.87.

Cardinal Health Company Profile

Cardinal Health, Inc operates as a healthcare services and products company in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It provides customized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, physician offices, and patients in the home.